Tuesday, 21 March 2023
So after a tough session at the gym today I had a look at my emails and found I’d been offered a place in the Ben Nevis fell race, one of the toughest around. It’s around 10 miles, 5 miles up and 5 miles down with around 4,500ft of climbing. The top runners do it in 1 ½ hours or so. Me? I’ll be more than happy with 4 hours. At the moment I’m overweight and unfit but this is the sort of challenge I need to get fit and lose weight so I can do my best on the day.
I can get on top of my nutrition especially as having a diagnosis of autism and dyspraxia means I’m best placed to know what’s best for me to eat. At the gym it’s a case of concentrating on legs, back and core, probably a mix of weights and stair climber, bike, rower etc, but it’s the actual running I’m unsure of. Do I do all hills and nothing else or a mixture of hills and flats? I’ve asked a couple of friends and they’ve suggested long climbs with equally long descents so that’s a good start.
This is going to be tough but I can do it and have a good go at Ben Nevis. I’ve already got one idea for a route, up and down Stoodley Pike from the Hebden 15 route, although it’ll be nothing like Ben Nevis it’ll build up strength and endurance in my legs and I’ll definitely lose a lot of weight!
The Autistic FellRunner 